The company, with headquarters in Birmingham, runs the UK’s longest rail route from Aberdeen to Penzance and is looking to cut numbers but transport workers in the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) claim it is unjustifiable. General secretary Gerry Doherty believes the announcement will affect front-line services and is balloting for industrial action.

The train company were accused by the TSSA of dismissing rail manager Andrew Evans after he downloaded an application to join the union and “without any written explanation”.